His view as to the supposed transmission of disease is
quite that of Archdall Reid's recent book. He was equally clear as to
Selection, and had he been a _zoologist_ and _traveller_ he might have
anticipated the work of both Darwin and Weismann!
To bring out such a book as his "Researches" when only twenty-seven, and
a practising physician, shows what a remarkable man he was.--Believe me
yours very truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
* * * * *
TO PROF. MELDOLA
_Parkstone, Dorset. July 8, 1897._
My dear Meldola,-- ... I am now reading a wonderfully interesting
book--O. Fisher's "Physics of the Earth's Crust." It is really a grand
book, and, though full of unintelligible mathematics, is so clearly
explained and so full of good reasoning on all the aspects of this most
difficult question that it is a pleasure to read it. It was especially a
pleasure to me because I had just been writing an article on the
Permanence of the Oceanic Basins, at the request of the Editor of
_Natural Science_, who told me I was not orthodox on the point. But I
find that Fisher supports the same view with very great force, and it
strikes me that if weight of argument and number of capable supporters
create orthodoxy in science, it is the other side who are not orthodox.
I have some fresh arguments, and I was delighted to be able to quote
Fisher. It seems almost demonstrated now that Sir W.
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